The creator of Nearby Glasses made the app after reading 404 Media’s coverage of how people are using Meta’s Ray-Bans smartglasses to film people without their knowledge or consent. “I consider it to be a tiny part of resistance against surveillance tech.”
more at: @feed@404media.co
Admittedly, this is cyberpunk as fuck.
Should not be needed… but it’s a fucking cool solution.
Next step is for someone makes a version that hijacks the Bluetooth headphones and makes them play a loud shrill noise that makes the glasses too uncomfortable to wear in your pressence.
Wasnt there a ton of outrage and such incl people not being allowed on planes, back when google glass was released?
Why is it all OK now?
I remember Google Glass itself receiving a ton of outrage actually: People hated it and anyone wearing one was made fun of (“glassholes” was a popular insult at the time).
I’ll still use it for the meta garbage, but I think the reason is that the glasses are just inconspicuous enough for most normies to not notice they are being recorded. Till the moron wearing them starts staring off into space while reading tweets at least.
There’s a window of attention for public discourse and there’s fatigue. We, as a group, can only be upset about so much. It’s a tried tactic to just try to distract us with some crazy shit, like Trump did with the alien files. If one crazy thing comes up in the news, other stuff will drop from our radar. And that’s why people try shit again and again and again. Always in the hope that this time people are distracted by other stuff or are finally worn down enough.
Windows Recall has re-entered the chat.
Years of privacy violations going deeper and deeper under pretend of “progress” and “pRoTeCt the cHiLdReN”. I am glad that people started rebelling against Flock, and some removed their Amazon cameras following the Superbowl’s ads, but that’s not even close to how much we should be mad at these mass surveillance actors.
Years of privacy violations going deeper and deeper under pretend of “progress” and “pRoTeCt the cHiLdReN”.
Many years of indoctrination. When Google glass was introduced, it was just ‘a neat idea’. Now it’s a product, and therefore it’s clearly more trustworthy because someone is profiting from it. (/s)
You know what sucks?
In that AR glasses, in theory, are such an interesting technology with lots of potential, and certainly a piece of tech I would love to have and work with and on. Not to secretly record people, but to, well… augment my field of view with whatever digital tools or displays I would like. It would be so useful
It’s honestly kinda saddening to me that it most likely will get completely ruined by our current toxic relationship to technology. A step towards our ever increasing cyberdystopia, and not towards enchanting our limited lives
Obviously either way I don’t trust Meta, but an open-hardware device running a FOSS AR system? It would be nice…
I still hold out hope that this somehow could be resolved, and I would love to contribute to open software for these devices. Maybe one day soon-ish I will. My expertise should be well applicable, after all
Drop the cameras and microphones and replace them with a couple accelerometers and gyros. Paired with your phone’s GPS tracking, the glasses can tell where you’re looking without actually seeing anything. You can get handy features like a floating ‘turn here’ sign over your exit while driving with GPS navigation without recording anyone or anything at any time. Better battery life, too.
Tbh I don’t even mind cameras that much if they were entirely controlled by the individuals themselves. I have a much bigger issue with it when you’re streaming my facial recognition data to Evil Megacorp 2™ servers that also feed directly to the “Not Spying… Again” agency, though.
Is that what you’re referring to? https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/meta-facial-recognition-glasses These people have no ethics and no moral code. They know we’ll hate it, so they want to sneak it!
I don’t think that would work particularly well with AR: People get sick if movement isn’t synced up properly, not having any sort of cameras or sensors at all would exacerbate that problem.
If you are talking about a simple HUD, then that might be a lot more viable, but for AR and the tech we currently have, some sort of camera or sensor array is kind of a requirement practically speaking.
See, I don’t really want full AR. I want a HUD, a very small number of rudimentary AR features, like floating windows for text documents or videos, physical buttons on the arms of the glasses, small drivers by the ears for audio, and battery life that will last most of the day. I already have to wear glasses and if I’m paying more for extra features I want ones that will last the whole time I might want them, not just the six or so hours a day that the current offerings have.
If that’s all you want, making something that just clips onto your existing glasses might be pretty viable.
GNSS isn’t really accurate enough for this, especially in urban environments where there is poor line of sight to most of the satellites.
The truth is that we already are living in the surveillance state and people are just going to have to “get over” being recorded in public by anyone that walks by.
I don’t like it either. But that’s the reality we’re entering into, where privacy isn’t a right but a privilege and that privilege does not exist save for some very select (if any at this point) places like your home … Maybe.
No, people do not have to get over that. People need to stand up for their rights. Being in a public space isn’t justification to have your movements recorded and logged 24/7. Stop being the fucking knee you coward.
What does this even mean? You gonna punch every other person you see?
Fuck off with your disingenuous comment
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You don’t need to actively punch everyone you see. Just punch the Nazis. For the privacy part, what one could reasonably do once the tech becomes affordable is to eg.: wear passive EMP devices or something similar that disable cameras near you (at some point, the tech has to fit in a space too small for EMP shielding).
I’m just being realistic about the future. You already are carrying around a machine that’s listening and watching. You’re walking into and out of stores where you’re on camera. Hell you’re driving past however many cameras in your car or walking past them on the street, every business, every office, every space has cameras now.
Thus, I think eventually more and more augmented reality devices will be seen because people will come to appreciate their uses outside of just being recording devices once that concern is overcome. In other words, wearing AR glasses won’t get you default labeled as some perverted weirdo.
You don’t need to bend the knee but we’re past the point where there should be any expectation of privacy in public spaces. I’m not saying I like it, I’m saying I expect our society to continue to move towards a surveillance model where privacy simply cannot be expected in any public space.
Do I think it’s dystopian and bad, yes, yes I do. I also think we need strong privacy protections for our private domiciles. That doesn’t mean my opinion is aligned with what actually is going to happen in our world.
I don’t want it but it’s what is going to happen and has been happening.
While I agree that AR glasses will become widespread, there’s still time to advocate for and implement privacy focused regulations. Especially early on as people are upset about the technology
While not perfect solutions, enforcing stuff such as recording LEDs and such are steps in the right direction
AR glasses will become widespread
I was picking up my new prescription glasses this week at a large mall. They had Ray Ban and Oakley Meta glasses and the clerk said they have not sold a single pair.
“Here’s a list of reasons why all hope is lost and you too should bend the knee.”
That’s all I read. C.O.W.A.R.D.
You’re a silly person, aren’t ya.
Yeah fuck me for acknowledging AR glasses or other AR tech could be very useful but it’s being limited by our privacy concerns that are basically theater at this point.
Truly I am so cowardly Mr big internet man.
If you want to bend and spread, you do you. You don’t have to tell us to “get over” it and share your fetish. That’s a not-nice thing to do.
I’m just being realistic about the future. You already are carrying around a machine that’s listening and watching. You’re walking into and out of stores where you’re on camera. Hell you’re driving past however many cameras in your car or walking past them on the street, every business, every office, every space has cameras now.
Thus, I think eventually more and more augmented reality devices will be seen because people will come to appreciate their uses outside of just being recording devices once that concern is overcome. In other words, wearing AR glasses won’t get you default labeled as some perverted weirdo.
You don’t need to bend over and spread but we’re past the point where there should be any expectation of privacy in public spaces. I’m not saying I like it, I’m saying I expect our society to continue to move towards a surveillance model where privacy simply cannot be expected in any public space.
Do I think it’s dystopian and bad, yes, yes I do. I also think we need strong privacy protections for our private domiciles. That doesn’t mean my opinion is aligned with what actually is going to happen in our world.
I don’t want it but it’s what is going to happen and has been happening.
Using an AR display on those glasses with frames that thick is such a horrible idea. Google was on the right track with the HUD displayed on a frame-less prism that doesn’t block half your vision.
Last thing I’d want is to be in the middle of something with my hands full and the display bugs out, blocking the one eye, making me screw something up.
Last thing I’d want is to be in the middle of something with my hands full and the display bugs out, blocking the one eye, making me screw something up.
Maybe don’t cause your own problems.
I mean, that was sorta the point of the comment…
I don’t like them and therefore, I won’t be using them, ever. I’d get a less obstructing headset instead. And, I wouldn’t get a headset just to play around with it, I’d actually want to use it and try to get to it help me doing things.
It’s only a matter of time before someone is arrested on suspicion of voyerism and there is evidence of him staring at some girl’s boobs.
Every guy does this, but “Looking at cleavage is like looking at the sun. You don’t stare at it. It’s too risky. Ya get a sense of it and then you look away!”
-Jerry Seinfeld.
I agree, it would be nice.
I just re-watched Ghost in the Shell SAC Laughing Man last night, and wouldn’t mind seeing these things get hacked with the Laughing Man logo replacing any face it was looking at, re-writing signs, etc.
I mean, eventually there are going to be people with camera’s stealthily integrated directly into their eyeballs recording non-stop.
Like that black mirror episode letting people relive any moment from their past.
The wireless communication protocol will still be able to be intercepted. A physical port for data transfer will probably be too dangerous to the subject and prone to contamination (and infection).
But not necessarily interpreted.
Perfect response. Record someone without consent, it should be the last time those glasses are wearable.
Github (APK) link, if you’re on a privacy phone: https://github.com/yjeanrenaud/yj_nearbyglasses
Open season on meta wearers when?
Green light!
i mean… you can also just look around and see the guy with the dorky out-of-place classes…
It apparently works with the bluetooth signals which I found really smart.
Couldn’t people who specifically want to stealthily record people just turn off the bluetooth?
I believe Bluetooth is always on with the Meta glasses, at least the last gen. They offload everything to the phone. I got a pair as a work gift and only use them as sunglasses with headphones built-in so I can listen to podcasts on walks.
My partner got a pair for work when they first came out (her job involves creating social media content). I was impressed by the speakers and it’s the same style of sunglasses that I normally wear daily, so I got a pair for myself. It was so nice to be able to listen to stuff and take calls without carry around headphones or putting them in when the phone rang. I was already uncomfortable with the association with meta, but was able to isolate that aspect at first. As they continued to add features, I’ve started being less comfortable with them. I accidentally left them somewhere a couple months ago and decided not to replace them. It’s such a bummer that all the cool tech is now not just spying on you, but on everyone around you. Fuckin capitalism ruins everything.
needs a disrupter to ignite it’s batteries. js. what good is detection w/o counter measures
I know next to nothing about the glasses, but would they be vulnerable to anything the Flipper Zero is capable of doing?
How hard can you throw it?
Pretty hard. Unfortunately my aim is shit.
Just throw hard enough to trigger fusion reaction then.
XKCD-it. Got it.
depends on what you know about flipper zero.
The app scans for smart glasses’ distinctive Bluetooth signatures and sends a push alert if it detects a potential pair of glasses in the local area.
What do you mean “vulnerable”? Are you trying to blow them up?
That’d be a great TV show plot…but I’m not really a fan of violence. I’d be more interested in rendering them unusable, or spoofing them into making loud fart noises or letting out a loud wolf whistle everytime someone else walks by. Like I said, I don’t know, nor do I much care, what kinds of things the glasses do…but I imagine theres some kind of screen the user can watch, so maybe forcing them to view something annoying could be another viable spoof.
I’d fork this just to name it more appropriately: “Glasshole radar”
Pretty sure the Meta Glasses come with NipAlert pre-installed.
Doesn’t work 😮💨 push “start scanning” and nothing happens.
It worked for me after I looked at the settings screen. I’m not sure why. If it is working, though, the debug box will fill up with a ton of text.
None of those buttons at the top work either. Possibly because they’re behind my notifications bar.
For me it worked to rotate the screen, then the buttons worked.
Same here.
Go to Android Developer Settings > Display Cutout, set it to one of the other options and it should shift the app down a bit so you can access the buttons. (change it back after ofc)
I used “waterfall cutout” but others might work depending on your phone model. Afaik no other fix is possible without the app’s code itself being modified.
